The ruling on taking money in exchange for intercession in university admission
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This question says: A girl is in high school in her final stage and will graduate to the university stage, if Allah wills, after upcoming exams. One of her relatives asked that she be given a sum of money, three thousand riyals, in exchange for his intercession for her in this university. Is this permissible, or is it considered a bribe?
Answer:
This is intercession, good intercession, and one does not take a fee for intercession. Because good intercession is intended to be a kindness to the one for whom intercession is made, so one does not take anything in exchange for it; rather, one seeks the reward from Allah and intends to benefit the Muslim. One does not take anything in exchange for it. If it is taken by an employee, this is a bribe. If the money is given to an employee in order to employ the graduate, whether a man or a woman, this is a bribe. But if the money is taken in exchange for the intercession only, this is not permissible, because intercession is a contract of assistance intended to be a kindness to the one for whom intercession is made. For this reason, there is a prohibition against accepting money in exchange for intercession. Good intercession. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This question says: A girl is in high school in her final stage and will graduate to the university stage, if Allah wills, after upcoming exams. One of her relatives asked that she be given a sum of money, three thousand riyals, in exchange for his intercession for her in this university. Is this permissible, or is it considered a bribe?
Answer:
This is intercession, good intercession, and one does not take a fee for intercession. Because good intercession is intended to be a kindness to the one for whom intercession is made, so one does not take anything in exchange for it; rather, one seeks the reward from Allah and intends to benefit the Muslim. One does not take anything in exchange for it. If it is taken by an employee, this is a bribe. If the money is given to an employee in order to employ the graduate, whether a man or a woman, this is a bribe. But if the money is taken in exchange for the intercession only, this is not permissible, because intercession is a contract of assistance intended to be a kindness to the one for whom intercession is made. For this reason, there is a prohibition against accepting money in exchange for intercession. Good intercession. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
75-اللقاء الأسبوعي مع الشيخ صالح الفوزان - 21 — archive.org (13:23)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.